The Remaining 10 days

Salam from myss. (Ok suddenly I’m writing in English in this warna kehidupan.) Time flies really fast. whether we realize it or not, we’ve reached the last part of Ramadhan: the remaining 10 days.

Let us reflect ourselves..up to this day, how much ibadah have we done so far? Have we managed to upgrade our iman and amal? Has this Ramadhan been a better one compared to the previous one? so many questions..

Anyway, now that we’ve reached the 21st night of Ramadhan, let us look at Surah Al-Qadr (The Night of Power) to remind us all of LAILATUL QADR.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
We have indeed revealed this message in the Night of Power.
And what will explain what the Night of Power is?
The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
Therein come down the angels and the spirit, by Allah's permission, on every errand.
Peace! Until the rising of the morning!

The translation in Bahasa is:

Dengan nama Allah Yang Maha Pengasih, Maha Penyayang
Sesungguhnya Kami telah menurunkannya (Al-Qur’an) pada malam kemuliaan.
Dan tahukah kamu apakah malam kemuliaan itu?
Malam kemuliaan itu lebih baik daripada seribu bulan.
Pada malam itu turun para malaikat dan Ruh (Jibril) dengan izin Tuhannya untuk mengatur semua urusan.
Sejahteralah (malam itu) sampai terbit fajar.

From the surah we know that among the nights of Ramadhan is one special night, which is better than a thousand months. Ibadah and good deeds performed on that single night are equal to those performed over a thousand months. This means that the reward for doing ibadah in this night is so great that even if a person does ibadah for a thousand months apart from this night, he will not receive the same reward as that of engaging in ibadah in this one night.

“Whoever stays up (in prayer and remembrance of Allah) on the Night of Qadr fully believing (in Allah’s promise of reward for that night) and hoping to seek reward (from Allah alone and not from people), he shall be forgiven for his past sins.” (Bukhari & Muslim)

Don’t we think that Allah is so gracious? as if it is not enough to reward us during this month, he even give us a special night to reward us even more and give forgiveness to his servants, to those who seek.

Nobody knows exactly when this night is as Allah has concealed the exact date of the Night of Power so that His servant would worship Him during the whole month of Ramadan without picking the days. *wink* However, it was reported that the Prophet Muhammad said, “Seek it on the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan.” (Bukhari)

Some signs of the Lailatul Qadr are:

Rasulullah s.a.w described the morning after Lailatul Qadr, so that the Muslim may know which day it is. From Ubayy, RA who said: that Rasulullah s.a.w: "On the morning following Lailatul Qadr the sun rises not having any rays, as if it were a brass dish, until it rises up." (Muslim, Abu Daud, at-Tarmidhi, Ibn Majah)

From Ibn 'Abbaas, RA who said: Rasulullah s.a.w said: "Lailatul Qadr is calm and pleasant, neither hot nor cold, the sun arises on its morning being feeble and red." (at-Tayaalisee, Ibn Khuzaimah, al-Bazzaar with hasan isnaad)

To all Muslims out there, let’s not miss this opportunity to do as much ibadah as we can and hope that we will be able to encounter this precious night. A night when the gates of the heavens are wide open and Allah will listen to the lucky ones who encounter it.

We don’t know if we’ll get a chance to meet with it again in the next Ramadhan, whether we’ll still be alive at that time or not. Think about it. Let’s not miss this one night which is better than a thousand months of our life, and worshiping on that one night is better than 84 years of our ibadah.

Ummul Mukminin Aisyah ra berkata: “Sesungguhnya Rasulullah s.a.w apabila berdekatan dengan sepuluh malam terakhir dalam bulan Ramadhan berpesan: “Bersungguhlah (dlm ibadah) atau berwaspadalah kerana lailatul qadar itu pada sepuluh malam yang terakhir dari Ramadhan” (Bukhari & Muslim)

Hehe..suddenly I remembered my dad always remind me during the last 10 days of Ramadhan to sleep early and get up early for qiam and not to miss this once in a year chance or (who knows?) maybe once in a lifetime chance to meet with lailatul qadr.

Start small, you don’t have to have a lengthy qiam if you’re tired and sleepy. 2-4 rakaat and recitation of a few pages of Quran will do before sahur. What matters is sincerity. However, if you’re really strong- strong iman, strong body, and do have the time, do as many prayers as you can;)

Ya Allah, ringankanlah tubuh badan ini untuk beribadat kepadaMu. Amin